Mac OS X Lion: Drops PowerPC Emulation, Adds QuickTime Pro Features, Much More

MacRumors · Feb 27, 2011

As developers delve into the early build of Mac OS X Lion 10.7, a large number of smaller features are being revealed. One discussion thread seems to be compiling these findings. There seems to be a lot of nice new features being described. A couple of particular interest include:

- PowerPC (Rosetta) emulation is no longer offered. That means if you have any PowerPC applications they won't be able to run in Mac OS X Lion. You can determine if you are still running PowerPC applications by going into Applications -> Utilities -> System Profiler -> Applications and viewing "By Kind". This will show you which applications you have that are running under PowerPC. Rosetta had already become an optional install in Snow Leopard, and it appears Apple will be removing support for it entirely in Lion.

- QuickTime Player finally re-incorporates some features from QuickTime Pro. New features cited include Copy/Paste, Insert Clip, Crop Video, Rotate Video, Resize, Trim, More Export options.

- TUAW points to a video walk through of Lion from Ian Bauters that gives an overview:

Other highlights from the growing discussion thread details many smaller updates and features that users have found in Mac OS X Lion. An abbreviated list includes:

- Preview is a powerhouse app, you can even sign your document just by holding a piece of paper up to the camera with your signature (it saves it for you!) (screenshot)
- There's animations for everything, slick simple transitions that remind you of the polish of the iphone. Stuff that makes it easier to understand what your OS is doing with visuals
- You can turn the lights back (open application indicator) on in the dock (screenshot)
- iChat supports Yahoo Messenger Video and Voice chat
- Address Book also with "classic" view
- Much More

Finally, a variety of videos have popped up on YouTube showing various features: Flash is not Pre-Installed, Safari, Mail - Classic View, Mail, Launch Pad, iCal, Finder, Address Book.

Article Link: Mac OS X Lion: Drops PowerPC Emulation, Adds QuickTime Pro Features, Much More

portishead · Feb 27, 2011

I promise you just because Quicktime Pro isn't included in this release, it will be able to be installed in either final release, or with Final Cut Studio. There are certain things that need to be done for professionals that require Quicktime Pro.

GFLPraxis · Feb 27, 2011

Liking the polish. Some of these things seem a bit unnecessary (changing the folder view buttons to a slider?), and some a bit...un-Apple? (fullscreen Safari is wasteful, for example)...and yet I rather like the latter.

Really dislike the new address book. It's like Apple threw all UI standards out of the window. I'm okay with software that tries to appear like a real life object (such as a book) on a touch screen device, but it's bad for user interoperability on a keyboard-and-mouse PC where you should be able to tell how to do everything at-a-glance based on the consistent UI of most applications of the operating system.

Orange · Feb 27, 2011

Some Questions...

WTF is "PowerPC Emulation"? Classic went away with Leopard I thought! UPDATE: That sucks, first Classic and now Rosetta? You're moving the wrong way APPLE!!!

Another question though, what the difference between Classic and Rosetta.

Also, who honestly uses Quicktime anymore? VLC is free and open source, is there anything Quicktime can do that VLC can't? Also, when I use the two, Quicktime uses more computational resources.

jake4ever · Feb 27, 2011

NO POWERPC?! aww man....

tac22 · Feb 27, 2011

GFLPraxis said:
Liking the polish. Some of these things seem a bit unnecessary (changing the folder view buttons to a slider?), and some a bit...un-Apple? (fullscreen Safari is wasteful, for example)...and yet I rather like the latter.

Really dislike the new address book. It's like Apple threw all UI standards out of the window.

full screen safari isn't wasteful at all on a smaller screen. That being said, having a 27 inch screen myself, there is absolutely no need for me to put safari in full screen.

The better implication of spaces (desktops) with different desktop wallpaper and easy switching is plain awesome

scotty321 · Feb 27, 2011

Looks like I have to find another application to replace Quicken 2007, with all the same functionality (investments, scheduled transactions, tax exporting, etc.)

Popeye206 · Feb 27, 2011

It's cool with me they drop PPC... I assume it will make future development easier and the OS will be much slicker without that overhead. It's been 4-5 years... time to move forward.

Looking forward to seeing more.

gmcalpin · Feb 27, 2011

Orange said:
Also, who honestly uses Quicktime anymore? VLC is free and open source, is there anything Quicktime can do that VLC can't? Also, when I use the two, Quicktime uses more computational resources.

I use Quicktime all the time. Half the movie trailers on the internet are Quicktime movies.

scotty321 · Feb 27, 2011

GFLPraxis said:
Really dislike the new address book. It's like Apple threw all UI standards out of the window. I'm okay with software that tries to appear like a real life object (such as a book) on a touch screen device, but it's bad for user interoperability on a keyboard-and-mouse PC where you should be able to tell how to do everything at-a-glance based on the consistent UI of most applications of the operating system.

It says that you can choose the "classic view" for the address book.

gregjsmith · Feb 27, 2011

No PPC emulation? How am I supposed to run Quicken 2007?

SkippyThorson · Feb 27, 2011

For the first time, I'm ticked off about dropping something related to PPC. I understood why Apple dropped support for it in favor of Intel. It was something that needed to be done, and it made sense.

However, dropping Rosetta? No way. That's nonsensical. The only reason I need it is for Microsoft Office, which I carried over through Time Machine when I transferred my stuff over from my iBook.... But Office is a big deal for me, and dropping Rosetta means if I want Office, I need to shell out for it.

Absurd. I refuse to re-buy Office. I just may keep Snow Leopard then. For the first time, even after the PPC fiasco that pissed everyone else off, I'm finally irritated.

Orange™;12009481 said:
...Another question though, what the difference between Classic and Rosetta...

Classic is OS9 and is an entire Mac OS before OSX. Rosetta is only an emulation that ran on Intel machines which allowed you to run things like PPC versions of Microsoft Office on an Intel Mac - like I do today.

iBookG4user · Feb 27, 2011

Orange said:
WTF is "PowerPC Emulation"? Classic went away with Leopard I thought! UPDATE: That sucks, first Classic and now Rosetta? You're moving the wrong way APPLE!!! Another question though, what the difference between Classic and Rosetta.

Also, who honestly uses Quicktime anymore? VLC is free and open source, is there anything Quicktime can do that VLC can't? Also, when I use the two, Quicktime uses more computational resources.

Classic emulated OS 9 applications. Rosetta emulated applications that run on the PowerPC processor. Remember those G3, G4 and G5 Macs? Those are PowerPC computers.

204353 · Feb 27, 2011

GFLPraxis said:
Liking the polish. Some of these things seem a bit unnecessary (changing the folder view buttons to a slider?), and some a bit...un-Apple? (fullscreen Safari is wasteful, for example)...and yet I rather like the latter.

Really dislike the new address book. It's like Apple threw all UI standards out of the window. I'm okay with software that tries to appear like a real life object (such as a book) on a touch screen device, but it's bad for user interoperability on a keyboard-and-mouse PC where you should be able to tell how to do everything at-a-glance based on the consistent UI of most applications of the operating system.

While there's nothing forcing you to use fullscreen, I think it's a definite plus for notebooks. Even on my 15" MacBook Pro, which isn't exactly tiny, there have been many times when I've wanted Safari in proper fullscreen (i.e. hiding the Dock and menu bar). Chrome has had fullscreen from the beginning and it's one of the best extra features, in my opinion.

Regarding the new UI styles, I think it's about time that many of the old standards got re-written. Being an iPhone, iPad and Mac user, I'm all for the three devices sharing very similar interfaces. It also makes perfect sense for Apple. Consumers would welcome everything working in a similar fashion. Consistency is key.

enberg · Feb 27, 2011

Orange said:
WTF is "PowerPC Emulation"? Classic went away with Leopard I thought! UPDATE: That sucks, first Classic and now Rosetta? You're moving the wrong way APPLE!!! Another question though, what the difference between Classic and Rosetta.

Also, who honestly uses Quicktime anymore? VLC is free and open source, is there anything Quicktime can do that VLC can't? Also, when I use the two, Quicktime uses more computational resources.

Am I the only one to find these two different viewpoints coming from a single poster hilarious?

JonHimself · Feb 27, 2011

I've seen the mention of the lights under running applications and how it seems to be a concern for people. Based on the way they're promoting apps saving states and launching instantly, I wonder if it's just Apple trying to condition people to getting away from the idea of an app "running" and thinking more about just having the applications there ready to be used whenever you want (assuming they do launch instantly - or at least close to instantly). With the ability to save states I'm guessing they probably just want people to not worry about if it's open or not.

Orange · Feb 27, 2011

It's the Year 2011

Why can't an OS run Lion, Rosetta, and Classic? Even partial versions would be ok, perhaps partitioning? I find it hard to believe Apple is incapable of doing this, in fact, I find it to be a downright lie.

I want to be able to put in a game from 1990 and play it, I don't see why this is now impossible.

roadbloc · Feb 27, 2011

That's MP3Gain I can kiss goodbye to.

allpar · Feb 27, 2011

"However, dropping Rosetta? No way. That's nonsensical. "

I fully agree!

First, and mainly, there's Eudora. There is a large community of Eudora people still, and there's no good substitute. There's MailForge, which may work reliably someday, and there's "Eudora 8," which ... doesn't deserve to be mentioned.

Then there's Office. I paid for Office 2008; however, it doesn't work well with many programs, in terms of copy/paste, and is often ... weird. I don't have confidence that Office 2011 will be any better. I prefer Office 2004, and will stick with it as long as I can. Apparently that's not very long if I choose to stay current.

I am VERY disappointed in Apple. If I could figure out how to rate this a "negative" I would.

portishead · Feb 27, 2011

scotty321 said:
Looks like I have to find another application to replace Quicken 2007, with all the same functionality (investments, scheduled transactions, tax exporting, etc.)

Yup, I realized this last night. I have about 4 years of data in it. I tried iBank but couldn't get my data to import. Not sure what I'm going to do yet...

GFLPraxis · Feb 27, 2011

Orange said:
WTF is "PowerPC Emulation"? Classic went away with Leopard I thought! UPDATE: That sucks, first Classic and now Rosetta? You're moving the wrong way APPLE!!! Another question though, what the difference between Classic and Rosetta.

Classic was OS 9 support, and yes, that went away with Leopard.

800px-JPEGView_version_3.3.1_running_on_Mac_OS_X_Classic_Environment.png

Rosetta is support for OS X applications that can only run on G3/G4/G5 processors.

arn · Feb 27, 2011

JonHimself said:
I've seen the mention of the lights under running applications and how it seems to be a concern for people. Based on the way they're promoting apps saving states and launching instantly, I wonder if it's just Apple trying to condition people to getting away from the idea of an app "running" and thinking more about just having the applications there ready to be used whenever you want (assuming they do launch instantly - or at least close to instantly). With the ability to save states I'm guessing they probably just want people to not worry about if it's open or not.

Apple absolutely doesn't want you to think about apps running or not running anymore in Lion. The people who care are the ones who like to micromanage things. In theory, Apple is saying that you don't have to worry about that. Apps will unload and save state when they aren't needed.

arn

Orange · Feb 27, 2011

enberg said:
Am I the only one to find these two different viewpoints coming from a single poster hilarious?

I've wooed many a user before, you are not alone. I rephrased my post below.

giladavni · Feb 27, 2011

Lion is just awesome !!
evebody, lets take it back to the mac !

firewood · Feb 27, 2011

Orange said:
WTF is "PowerPC Emulation"? Classic went away with Leopard I thought!

Classic did 68k emulation (the CPU architecture of the very first Macs). Rosetta emulates a variant of the IBM Power CPU architecture, the CPUs used in the very first PowerMacs. Current Macs use Intel 64-bit ia32/x86 architecture CPUs.

Mac OS X Lion: Drops PowerPC Emulation, Adds QuickTime Pro Features, Much More

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